By JIM VERTUNO
Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas lawmakers are renewing the debate on allowing concealed handguns into college classrooms.
The House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety is meeting Thursday to consider several bills allowing concealed handgun license holders to carry their guns into campus buildings where they are currently banned.
A similar measure erupted into 1 of the most contentious bills of the 2011 session before it failed. Supporters are pushing the measure again.
College administrators have generally not supported the effort in the past. They worry guns will spark more campus violence and suicide.
Supporters call it a gun rights issue and a self-defense measure that could prevent mass shootings similar to the one at Virginia Tech in 2007 and last year at a Connecticut elementary school.
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